Second Presbyterian Church is located in Kansas City, MO. We can seat about 400 people in the sanctuary, and currently average about 300 a week, running two services weekly. We run a smaller service at 8:15am in our chapel, and then our larger service at 10:15 in the main sanctuary. Our worship style is traditional, although we could easily make the switch to contemporary worship. Our sanctuary is pretty tall – between 60’-70’ tall at the peak of the room. Just in front of the chancel and off to the left, we have a transept area for extra seating. Ensuring that we have good audio and clear, crisp mics in use for our sermons is very important to us, as we want everybody to be able to hear and experience the word. Predominantly, the only times we use headset-style microphones are during sermons and, on occasion, for communion when our lead pastor and associate pastor are both involved.

The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing, and that means you need to have a microphone that is clear, comfortable and natural sounding.

Some of the ongoing problems I’ve experienced with subminiature head set microphones is the thinness of the sound or the presence of a “lisp”. And… no, I don’t have a lisp.

For me the best way to determine if a microphone lives up to the demands of the average preacher is not to read tech manuals, spec sheets or brand advertisements. The best way to test a microphone is to put it to the test, as in listen to the quality of a microphone in a live preaching or live worship application.

So, we set up a test scenario. I switched out my normal microphone element for the Mogan Elite Omni Earset Microphone. The immediate unsolicited response was… wow, the mic sounds great. Big, full, natural— and it eliminated one of the biggest complaints I’ve had with headset microphones— the dreaded lisp.

Many audio environments call for a microphone that is unobtrusive, hands-free, and allows the user wide freedom of movement. In response to that need, a variety of headset microphones have been developed over the years. One of the latest, just introduced in 2012, is the Mogan Elite Earset Microphone.

Mogan Microphones is a new brand, launched by Hosa Technology—a premier supplier of audio cable and interconnect products. The Elite is created for professional audio applications requiring full-frequency vocal reproduction, including broadcast, live theatre, and houses of worship. This well-conceived microphone, weighing in at less than half an ounce, proves to be a worthy contender.

For the last two decades, I’ve been mixing at churches and installing house of worship sound systems (among other audio adventures). During this time, I’ve seen — and heard — a continuous evolution in the microphones that ministers prefer and use. For years, I would typically be asked to set up a stationary wired mic at a podium or — if the pastor/preacher went wireless — they might use a lavalier model.

The lav mic would allow the preacher the freedom to move about the platform and use both hands, but generally the sound of a lav is less desirable compared to a handheld. As a result, many of the pastors I worked with began using wireless handheld mics (some still use them today). The disadvantage of handhelds is that while holding the mic, it’s difficult to also hold a Bible and speak to the congregation while looking for a particular passage. As a result, houses of worship have become an ideal environment for the emergence of wireless headset and earset mics.

The new Mogan Elite ICE Omni Earset microphone is a nearly invisible, head worn omnidirectional condenser microphone. Its moisture-resistant, 2.5 mm capsule element, foam windscreen and lithe yet flexible boom are flesh colored and, besides fitting comfortably, it feels invisible on my ear. Comfort comes from the new Invisi-Clear Earpiece (ICE), the industry’s only transparent earpiece making the Mogan Elite ICE blend in and hard-to-detect when worn by actors on stage or on camera.

The Mogan works with a variety of interchangeable cables to connect to most of the popular wireless transmitters from Shure, AKG, Sennheiser and Audio-Technica. Each microphone comes with a detachable Kevlar®—reinforced cable with hardwired connector.

I tested the Mogan Elite ICE using an XLR adapter cable to plug into my studio microphone pre-amp. It requires phantom powering and I used around 35dB to 45dB of gain to get full recording level into my Pro Tools 11 rig. I could position the ICE capsule at any distance from my mouth without excessive low frequency buildup. I also found it to sound neutral, without excessive high frequencies, and a natural, resonant sound quality.

The new Mogan Elite ICE Omni Earset Microphone sells for $400 MSRP and ships with a set of interchangeable hypoallergenic foam windscreens in an impact-resistant aluminum case with a beige boom, and single cable clip.